Reading and reviewing books

I’ve always been interested in World War 1 since I read a book about it. I think that the whole thing was a fascinating and scary conflict that it seems everyone forgets. Well, forget all that because Scott Westerfeld just came out with a sci-fi book that takes readers back to WW1, or at least to some degree. How could I resist checking this one out?

Leviathan takes place during the same time period as WW1, but the setting is completely different. In WW1, two parties fought each other: One party was called The Allies, and consisted of the Americans(Which came into the fray late into the war), the British, the French, and the Russians. Against them was the Central Powers: the Germans and the Austro Hungarian Empire (the empire that ruled Austria and Hungary), which were later joined by the Ottoman Empire (now known as Turkey) and Bulgaria. Enough with the history lesson. Let me explain the book. In Leviathan, instead of using rifles, artillery, and just-invented machine guns, the Allies use animals that have been genetically modified to be used as weapons, and the Central Powers use gigantic war machines. The two main characters are named Alek and Deryn, and they are both interesting protagonists. Alek is a former prince, whose peace loving parents were murdered to start a war. Hunted by his own country to tie up the loose ends, in Leviathan Alek is running for his life in a walker manned by a trusty crew. Deryn is a girl who always had dreamed of flying. Dressing up as a boy, she gets her opportunity to join Britain’s navy, which alongside boats consists of flying air-beasts. Leviathan is a book about the adventures of Deryn and Alek, and how their paths meet.

Leviathan tries to be at least a little historically accurate, with events that happened in the history of the world. But in the end, the facts don’t matter because it’s a great book full of battles and people who know more than you think they do. Leviathan is a great book!